A Cultural Aspect
by Fallen Warrior Angel
Summary: Two teams, one case. Two doctors, one fate. Reid X OC
1. Chapter 1

It was the first time he'd ever done a joint case with another team before, and it made him nervous. Spencer Reid was much more comfortable working solely with his own team members. He could tell that Morgan was going to tease him about it the entire case, and JJ was already giving him the look that told him that everything was going to be alright if he just remained calm. He had been reading over the file he'd been given on the other doctor, Dr. Monica Weston. An impressive resume in his eyes, graduated Fair Haven University of Connecticut with a Masters in Forensic Science and a Bachelors in Psychology, also attended Oxford University in England where she recieved a degree in Sociology, and joining the FBI at the bright young age of 19.

Reid had to admit that he was a tad envious, but he also admired the young woman. Both of them had achieved so much in so little time, yet he came from a highly disfunctional family in Las Vegas, whereas she was the daughter of the US Ambassador to Spain, Timothy Weston and late fashion icon Penelope Cortez Weston. He 'd read that Monica was 10 when her mother had been murdered, her older brother, Dante Weston, had been 14. That type of trauma stuck with a person, he knew that for a fact.

Hotch walked by the young doctor's desk, "Reid, the other team's here, come say hello."

The young man nodded, placing the case file in his hand back down on the desk before following his superior teammate to the briefing room, where he took note of six new faces: four men and two women. There hadn't been a photograph with Dr. Weston's file, so he had no clue which of the women to introduce himself to.

Gideon sighed, "Alright, now that we're all here, this is Agent Anthony Perez and his team. They're FBI Agents from the Pentagon, Covert Operations BAU. They help profile international UnSubs that like to kill from one place to another, targeting high-profile people such as Ambassadors, Senators, Magistrates and so on. I'll let him introduce his team."

One of the four men stepped forward, his bleach-blonde hair and bright green eyes distracted Reid momentarily, but he focused back in on the conversation, "Thank you Agent Gideon. As already stated my name is Agent Perez, this is Special Agent Baxter, Special Agent McLaine, Special Agent Howard, Special Agent Samuels, and Special Agent Dr. Weston."

Reid watched the Agent's hand as he gestured to each of his team members: Agent Baxter was a short woman with fire-red hair cut very short, and her hazel eyes were magnified behind large-framed glasses. Agent McLaine was a tall, muscular man with dark hair and dark eyes, his tense body frame indicated that he didn't like working with new people. Agent Howard was a stumpy, eldery man with balding, brown hair and sunken green eyes. Agent Samuels was average height, had blue eyes, and from what Reid noticed, was French; with his neck-length, salt and pepper hair, he obviously wanted people to know it. Lastly, Dr. Weston, surprised Reid the most: she was absolutely beautiful. She was tall, slender, and had perfect skin which she didn't bother hiding with gobs of makeup; a mere dusting of what appeared to be bronzer, and a soft coat of mascara and lipstick. Her hair was golden, falling perfectly to her shoulders, the ends curling ever-so-slightly, her eyes were the color of the Caribbean Sea with flecks of gold around the pupil, and she dressed fashionably, a creme-colored suit with a burgundy camisole underneath and creme heels.

The young woman turned to him, "You must be Dr. Reid," she smiled, her teeth pearl-white, "it's a pleasure to meet you," she extended her hand in greeting.

Reid smiled sheepishly, shaking her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Dr. Weston."

She chuckled, "Call me Monica."

"Spencer, or Reid, whichever you prefer," he ranted, cursing inwardly.

Monica kept her smile, "Very well, Spencer, perhaps you and I can go over some of the behavorial factors of this UnSub? Compare some notes?"

Reid nodded, "Of course," he gestured toward his desk, "after you."

She turned to her superiors, notifying them of what she was doing before taking her leave from the room, Reid close behind. When she turned to sit on the edge of his desk, his nostrils filled with the scent of her fruity perfume. She smelled like peaches an cherry blossom, "So, what do you guys know about this UnSub?"

"Well, we've figured out that he doesn't just kill in the United States, he kills worldwide. We have yet to determine whether or not he is just a serial killer and not something beyond that. I know that your team has been monitoring his killings in Europe and Eastern Asia, as well as Australia and parts of South America," the young man explained, not knowing how much she knew of the UnSub herself.

Monica nodded, opening one of her own case files and handing it to him, "We call him the Passport Killer. Each one of his victims abroad was found with their throat slashed and both passport and ID missing, most likely abducted from airports either coming or going from the country. All of the victims have been male, medium build, dark hair, light eyes. We assume that he targets these men because he looks like them and is able to get out of the countries using their identification. He never attacks at the same airport twice, which also makes it very hard to find him on surrveilance cameras. The killings happen in the afternoon with most flights are swapping from departure to arrival, meaning he's mostly killing people that are leaving the country and not the other way around."

Reid perused the file, "Which means that he's usually on the move. However, lately he's been stationing his killings in the US, and some of his victims have become female, their ID and passports also missing. Physical characteristics of the women are blonde in hair color, green or hazel eyes, fair skin, medium build, between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-eight."

The blonde nodded, "We'd heard about those killings as well," her eyes met his; both young doctors had come to the same conclusion: he either had a hostage, or he had an accomplace, "Has anyone gone missing on your radar in the past three weeks that matches that description?" she questioned.

Reid shook his head, "I can ask our intel specialist to look through Missing Persons, but I haven't heard of anything thus far."

Elle walked over to the two of them, "Find anything?"

Monica nodded, "Thanks to some of the information in Spencer's files, we're able to deduce that the Passport Killer either has an accomplace or a hostage. Blonde, mid twenties, fair skin, medium build, green or hazel eyes."

The older woman bobbed her head slowly, "I'll get the information to Garcia."

The female doctor smiled, turning to Reid, "Thank you, Spencer."

Reid watched as she got up off his desk and walked back to the briefing room, probably to tell her teammates what they'd discovered, "You're welcome...Monica."

Elle smirked, seeing the look on his face, "She's already calling you Spencer. If she calls you Spence tomorrow, she's after you for sex."

The young man's face turned red, "I highly doubt that a woman such as Dr. Weston has those...intentions, towards me."

JJ walked over, "Please, I could see it from across the room, you were as stiff as cardboard. You think she's cute."

He exhaled nervously, "Could we not talk about this right now, please?"

Both women exchanged a glance, "Sure."

"Whatever you want, Spence."

"Thank you," he leaned back in his chair, his eyes traveling to look at the young woman in the other room, his gaze fixating on her radiant face. Logically, the thoughts running through his mind at that moment were against th protocal of the FBI, but at that moment, Spencer Reid couldn't care less about logic.

Morgan came out of the room, noticing Reid staring mindlessly, "Hey Reid, you OK?"

The young doctor turned his head sharply, "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm-I'm fine."

He smirked, "She's somethin' ain't she?" his eyes followed Reid's, realizing he was staring at Monica, "And she's a doctor, just like you."

Reid sighed, "What is it with everyone here thinking that I need some form of relationship?"

Morgan chuckled, "Because Reid, you need a personal life. We'd like you to have a personal life."

"Everything OK over here?" Hotchner interjected.

"We're talking about Reid's romantic life," the dark-skinned man smiled, gesturing toward the young, female doctor in the other room.

Hotch smiled, "She's pretty, smart, and talented. Why wouldn't she be interested in you, Reid?"

Reid shrugged, "Because I'm socially awkward, especially around women. I'm a tall, lanky geek with no form of social life aside from work."

"And it looks like she doesn't have a social life, either, Reid. She's a doctor same as you, working for the FBI around the clock. The only people she probably goes out with are her team members. She's not married or engaged, and from what I can tell she's single."

"OK I'm done having this conversation," the young doctor stood from his chair, walking away from the two men towards the break room.

* * *

><p>Monica watched the other doctor out of the corner of her eye as she reentered the briefing room, her mind only half-listening to the conversation of her teammates. He had her perplexed; between the neck-length, brown locks, the puppy dog eyes, and the boyish smile, he was as innocent as they came.<p>

"Weston...Weston!" her boss' voice made her focus, "You with us?"

She nodded, "Uh, yes sir, sorry."

Baxter smirked, "She's gone gooey over the cute boy doctor over there."

"Have not!" the blonde snapped, opening her case file, "What are we going to do about our contacts in Europe?"

Perez noted the red flush Monica's face acquired when Baxter had made her remark, but he ignored it, "I was hoping you could contact your brother, see if he could do anything to give us a hand."

She nodded, "I'll look into it."

"I've been conversing with the other team's information specialist, Garcia, she says that the UnSub's possible accomplice is most likely a willing participant, seeing as his profile isn't consistent with a kidnappers."

Monica read over her file again, and the one she'd gotten from Reid, "She's right, there's no prior indication of kidnapping anywhere in his history. Which means that if he has an accomplice, she should have some form of a record: theft, B and E, that sort of thing. If he kills that makes her their intel, meaning she picks out their targets. I'm going have Garcia run our female's physical description through the database, see if we can get anything from that," she stood, taking the two files with her before leaving the room again, noticing Reid walking away from his teammates in a hurry.

"Hey, Dr. Weston," one of the men called to her, making her stop and turn around, "Special Agent Morgan, how are you?"

She shook his hand, "Quite alright, Morgan, and yourself?"

He smirked, "Pretty good now that we've got your team here," his eyes scanned her quickly, "you don't look like your typical psych-geek."

Monica's eyebrow arched, "What is your typical psych-geek, Agent?"

Morgan shrugged, "Well...Reid's a good example."

"Well, Agent Morgan, Reid happens to be a perfect example of an intelligent young man just trying to make a living doing what he does best: solving problems. If that makes him a geek, then I guess that makes me one too. Any other immature questions, gentelmen? Or can I get back to finding a killer?"

A victorious smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth when she saw the surprised faces of her colleauges, but she kept her facial expressions stern as she turned and walked away, heading towards Garcia's office.

"Dammmit."

Monica heard the soft curse come from the break room, peaking her interest she peered inside, finding Reid cursing at the vending machine. She smirked, "Everything OK in here?"

The young man turned sharply, smiling anxiously when he noticed who it was, "Uh yeah, just lost my dollar to the vending machine. It likes to eat my money...no pun intended."

A chuckle escaped her lips, "Mind if I give you a hand there?"

"Please do," Reid smiled back, his eyes followed her as she approached, the palms of his hands seemed to perspire more as she got closer. Her perfume was more fragrant now, he guessed it was because the heat in the office, it must've caused her to perspire somewhat as well.

"It's a little trick I learned in grade school," she reached behind the machine, giving it a quick slam with the palm of her hand, "try it now."

He nodded, pressing the two buttons once more, and the machine whirred to life, producing the snack he'd wanted, "Thanks. I'll have to remember that."

Monica smiled, "You should, I won't always be here to help you."

Her teasing demeanor alerted Reid that she was flirting with him, and as he was reaching for his snack, he fumbled with the packet, dropping it on the floor. She noticed his body tense quickly when she'd commented, obviously women must've made him uncomfortable, "Well I should get back to work."

"Yeah, yeah I should get back to work...too," Reid stood quickly, fidgeting with the packet of salted cashews in his hand, "uh, keep me posted?"

"Will do," the young woman nodded, turning on her heel and leaving the room, sighing as she walked down the hall, "nice going, Weston."

Reid heard the soft criticism she'd given herself, and smiled: maybe Morgan and Hotch were right.

**AN: Reviews make me happy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry this took so long everyone! Been really busy with stuff at home!**

"Garcia?" the young woman knocked on the door to the computer technician's office, her eyes falling on the woman in front of the four computer screens.

She turned around, her blonde hair in two buns on top of her hair, her attire suggested to Monica that she had a very bodacious personality, "Welcome to the office of supreme genius, what can I do for you?"

Monica smirked; she loved being right all the time, "My name is Dr. Monica Weston I'm with the-"

"I know who you are hon, what can I help you with?" Garcia filled with her feather-topped pen.

"I need you to cross-reference this physical description with your database of female thieves, scam artists, women in that form of field with a significant IQ level. She needs to be smart enough to locate a target that will go unnoticed for a long time, but not smart enough to induce the actual murder."

The computer tech smirked, "You think this guy has an accomplice, hence the female victims?"

Monica nodded, "There's not a doubt in my mind. Please run it and let me know what you find, I'm sure you already have my contact information."

Garcia laughed, turning back to her computer screens to start her search, "That I do, honeybun. Thanks for stopping by I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks," the doctor closed the door behind her as she let, walking back to the briefing room to find both teams sitting their, talking about possible motives the killers would have, "So Garcia is searching for possible matches to our female accomplice. Are we any closer to finding out a motive?"

Gideon looked at her, "We're thinking it's a phsyciatric motive. The two of them think the only way they can stay together is by moving around constantly under different identities. It's like their version of immortality."

Monica looked at the cork board of photographs and paperwork, "Could be a religious aspect. Immortality brings oneself closer to God?"

"The killings don't make enough of a statement for them to be biblical references of any religion," Reid spoke up from his seat, still looking down at one of the files.

She glanced at him over her shoulder, "How's that? Just because they don't specifically refer to God or Allah or whoever, doesn't mean they can't be religious in the UnSub's minds."

The young man looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers in a stare, "That's true, however it doesn't seem to fit their signature. They kill quickly, stealing the person's identity, and then disappear."

Monica glanced back at the board, drowning out everyone in the room and focusing on the information in front of her: there was something she was missing.

Reid watched her intently, noting the stiffness in her posture as she perused the material that they had to work with; he memorized every detail of her, every curve, every curl, every inch. How could something so beautiful end up working for such an advanced field?

"There aren't two UnSubs," she finally spoke, turning back to the teams, "I was wrong. There aren't two. He's killing the women to throw us off his trail," she rushed out of the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialing a number, "yes I need to speak with Dante Weston it's urgent. I'm his sister."

Hotch walked over to Gideon, "What's she doing?"

The elderly man smirked, "She's finding our UnSub."

He'd heard Gideon's assessment and turned back to look at Monica. Reid was astounded that she'd figured it out so quickly, but he was also thankful. From what he heard of her conversation with her brother, she wanted to see if there had been any multiple scans of the same passport in any area, then she was on hold for quite some time before she hung up with a smile on her face, "I know where he's from, and where he is," she walked over to the large white board, writing two locations on it, "he's originally from the Mediterranean, more specifically the Greek Islands. As of right now he's used one passport at least six times, all of which have the UnSub travelling from the Islands, to West Palm Beach, Florida."

Perez smiled, giving her a clap on the shoulder, "Good work, Weston. Let's go everyone."

"We'll take two jets: Gideon, Perez, Morgan, Agent Howard, JJ, and myself will travel in one. The rest of you save for Reid and Monica, will take the other."

Monica looked at him, "And what are Reid and I doing?"

Gideon walked past her, putting on his jacket, "You'll stay here and monitor the geographical profile, and see if we get any other hits on that passport."

Reid nodded, "Sounds good to me."

The young woman glanced at her boss, who nodded, "I agree, stay here Weston."

"Fine by me," she stated, walking down the hall to the break room.

Samuels sighed, "Here we go again."

"Shut it," Baxter quipped, "you know how much she hates this."

Reid looked at her, "Hates what?"

The short woman glanced at him, "Hates being left behind. She's one of the best field operatives in the entire Bureau, but because she has a high IQ she has to stay behind and do all the intelligent work."

Perez sighed, "She's good at what she does and when I need her in the field she'll go out in the field. Until we get a case that requires her being at the scene I'd rather she stayed here."

"None of that's true, it's because my father's a diplomatic figure!" Monica's voice echoed from the break room.

Her boss turned to look down the hall, "We do it to protect you and your family!"

Her head poked out of the doorway, anger burning in her eyes, "I took the job, I take the risk. My family has nothing to do with it."

Reid watched quietly, his eyes flashing from Monica to her boss. He knew she already won the arguement, but he wondered if there was going to be a turning point.

"Fine...you can go in the field," Perez relented, a grimace on his face as he turned and walked away.

Monica grinned victoriously, her eyes finding Reid for a brief moment before she came out and walked back to her team.

"One of these days you're not going to beat him," Howard stated.

She chuckled, "Until that day I shall enjoy every second of it. What plane are we going on?"

Hotch turned to her, "You and Reid are coming with us."

Monica felt a slight warmth creep up her cheeks at his answer, but she nodded, "Alright," she glanced at Reid, "let's go."

Reid had heard Hotch's reply, and immediately his face turned hot: an entire car ride, and plane flight, with her. "O-OK," he stumbled over his words again, cursing in his head once more as he followed his stunning coworker, his eyes glued downward in effort not to stare at her in any way. Both teams went outside to find several SUVs waiting for them, four agents in each truck. Reid sat next to Monica in the back seat of one, with Morgan in the passenger's seat and Hotch driving, and he couldn't have felt more uncomfortable in his life. Her proximity was so close he could just reach out and touch her hand if he wanted, her fruity perfume seemed to fill the car, dizzying him.

"...Reid? Reid!" Morgan's voice finally came into focus, "You OK back there, bud?"

The young doctor nodded, "Yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Monica smiled, "Because you look like you're uncomfortable."

Morgan smirked, finding the perfect time to tease Reid, "Girl's just make him uneasy. It happens all the time."

Reid's face turned bright red, "Does not!"

She placed her hand on his, and Reid felt a sharp, tingle run up his spine, almost like electricity, "You don't need to feel uncomfortable around me, Spencer."

His eyes found hers, and he could see the sincerity swimming in them, "OK," his voice was no louder than a whisper, and he finally relaxed.

Monica could see his body unstiffen as he looked down at her hand on his, a small smile curling up on his face before he turned to look out the window. She smirked, turning to look out her window, her hand staying on his the entire drive to the jet hangar.

* * *

><p>"So this guy has been killing women to throw us off our trail?" JJ stated, looking over her file once more.<p>

Reid shook his head, "Not exactly, he's actually killing them to bring more attention to himself, more killings brings more publicity."

"And with more publicity comes us," Monica stated, "our UnSub is a former FBI covert operations agent. I've worked with him on several occasions in the past; he's smart, very capable of adapting to any situation, and he can blend in very, very well."

Gideon looked up from his file, "Tell us more about him, we need to know everything you do."

The young woman nodded, "His name is Richard Yanakiv; former FBI profiler and Russian Spetznaz. We ran several covert operations in Russia, Europe, and parts of Asia, until he was let go a year and a half ago for misconduct."

"What kind of misconduct?" Hotch questioned, looking over the file he'd been given.

Perez sighed, "Yanakiv went off the handle, was showing behavorial signs of bi-polar disorder. We had to let him go because of health reasons."

"But he didn't see it that way. Yanakiv probably took is as a personal blow," Reid stated, looking down at the papers before him, "it says here that he had an abusive childhood, a uh...an alcoholic father and a depressed mother?"

Monica nodded, "Richard tried to keep all of that information personal, but in the FBI nothing ever is."

Morgan looked up at her, "He knows the routine; he knows that with enough kills it would attract the attention of the Bureau."

"And the world-wide killings would bring our department into play," Baxter agreed.

"Which means he's looking for someone in particular, and I think we're giving her to him," Gideon's gaze fell on Monica, who stared at them with a confused gaze.

She chuckled nervously, "There are many possibilities as to why he would want the attention of the BAU: revenge, personal justice, payback, the list goes on. How are we sure it includes me?"

"Because you're the common denominator as it were: you worked with him for several years, he knows you're apart of the the global covert operations department of the BAU, and he knows that you know where to find him," Reid explained.

"There's just one thing missing," Hotch interjected.

Perez closed the file, "His stresser. We don't know what caused the psychotic break."

Monica shook her head, "I think we already answered that question. Richard is ignorant, egotistical, and extremely intelligent. He knows he can easily fool us, blend in and make it look like someone else is committing the murders. But something keeps him going, keeps him from turning the tables and running: anger. From his childhood up until his release from the FBI he has had anger building up inside him, and he's been bottling it up. Sooner or later it was bound to surfac,e and here it is. When he was let go from the BAU he snapped, but the stresser had been there all along. He's doing this to get attention drawn to himself, attention he never recieved as a child, or as an adult in the workplace. He was abused, overworked, and underappreciated. Care to pick a main cause?"

Gideon nodded, "She's right, he doesn't show sloppiness in his killings, which means he's highly sure of his skill. He's been perfecting it."

"Which means he's been killing longer than we thought," Elle jumped in.

"He was killing while he was in the BAU," Reid finished, looking at them all with an astonished gaze, "but how?"

Monica rubbed her hand over her face, "Easily; all you need is to be able to cover your tracks well enough, which Richard can do with one hand tied behind his back and blindfolded. But the angrier he gets, the more mistakes he's going to make. He needs to know we're onto him."

"How's a press conference when we land in Florida?" Morgan tossed his file on the small table with the others.

"That could work," Hotch nodded, "I'll call J.J., tell her to set everything up."

The agents went about their buisness, keeping themselves occupied during the remainder of the flight. Reid noticed Monica sitting all alone in a corner seat of the jet, so he decided to muster up what little courage he had and go sit next to her, "This seat taken?"

She glanced up at him from the book in her hand, "No, of course not," she smiled, looking back down at the open pages before her.

The young doctor blushed shyly before taking a seat next to the young woman, "What're you reading?"

Monica smiled, "It's a romance novel, my friend gave it to me to read. She thinks I'm interested in this sort of fiction."

Reid felt a little dismay enter the aura around them, "You don't believe in romance?"

"No, of course I do! I just don't believe it can happen like it does in the movies, or on television, or in books. Love can weave it's way into the most mysterious situations at the most inappropriate times. And yet all parties involved are happy in the end," she sighed, closing the book, "but what do I know about love? I haven't even experienced the true emotion."

He wasn't thinking when he placed his hand on top of hers, "What do you mean?"

Monica looked at him, "All of my boyfriends have dated me for one reason and one reason only, and it's not because I'm an FBI agent."

Reid nodded, "I see, well any guy that has the nerve to hurt you is dumb as dirt."

She blushed, "Thank you, Spencer, that meas a lot coming from you," she yawmed, "I think I'm going to take a nap before we start the real work."

He smirked, "Alright, mind if I sit here and read?"

"Not at all," she smiled, handing him her book before leaning back in her chair and dozing off to sleep. Reid looked down at the paperback he'd given her and smiled, turning to page one and working his way through the pages, trying to compare his situation to the one being professed on the pages of the book.

**AN: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I'VE BEEN SUPER SUPER BUSY! PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: OK three chapters in and I hope that everyone is enjoying it so far. I know I nag about reviews but it's just because I crave the thoughts that buzz around in your heads after you read. Anyway back to business, hope you like the newest installment!**

**PS: Sorry this took so long I've been away on business.**

Monica opened her eyes an hour later to find the plane had landed, and everyone was preparing to leave.

"Sleep alright?" Perez teased her, tossing her bag onto her lap.

She nodded, "Yeah, slept fine," she mumbled, following them off the plane, sheilding her eyes from the sun with her hand until she could get her Aviators out of her bag. She hadn't been in Florida in quite some time; the smell of the air was different, yet welcoming, although she knew they were here for anything but a vacation. Reid was standing on the ground below her, looking up with squinted eyes.

"Coming?" he smirked, trying to find his sunglasses in his bag.

The young woman climbed down the stairs, taking his sunglasses off the top of his head and placing them on his face, "Sometimes we miss the obvious."

He blushed, "I feel like an idiot."

"Don't, I've done it before, too," she smiled, tapping him on the shoulder and walking to one of the three SUVs waiting for them. Monica rode with Reid, Morgan, and Perez, the four of them were abnormally crushed inside the GMC Yukon, but as she reviewed the case file in her lap, she couldn't have cared less. This serial killer was a psychopath that needed to be stopped, and in the back of her mind she was dreading coming face-to-face with her former teammate. What would he do when he saw her? What would she do when she saw him? There was a lot of history hidden in their operations, something that she never wanted exposed.

Morgan looked at the young doctor in the seat next to him, trying to read her facial expressions as she perused the file she'd been reading for the past few hours. She was hooked on this case, just like so many of them were, but she had emotional ties, their UnSub was her former partner, why was she working the case to begin with? She should've stepped aside and stayed in Quantico when she found out who it was. However, he knew that Gideon wouldn't have allowed that.

Perez turned around in the passenger's seat to look at the three of them, "We're almost there, Monica your father and brother are going to meet us."

Her eyes glanced up at her superior, "What does my father have to do with this investigation?"

"He can help us, he worked with Yanakiv just as long as you did, remember?"

Reid closed his file, "If we're right, Yanakiv should have no reason to hide from us since he thinks he's gone undetected by the FBI."

"But that's the point, he wants to be found by us, that's what makes no sense. Why not just kill someone and make a huge statement with it, get our attention?" Morgan interjected.

Monica shook her head, "That's not Richard's style, he's very thorough, very precise, everything he does has a reason. He's like a bull in a china shop, he won't stop until everything he's after is destroyed."

Reid noticed the distance in Monica's voice, her mind was somewhere else other than the conversation, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" she stated, looking at him with blank eyes.

He sighed, "Because you seem tense about this entire situation."

She smirked, "Reid, you worry too much. Relax will ya?"

The young man couldn't help but blush, nodding foolishly before turning back to the papers in front of him. After several twists and turns of the road, the two SUVs pulled up to a large, stark white building, several men in suits standing outside awaiting their arrival. Monica sighed angrily, noticing her brother and father standing amongst them; she hadn't wanted them to be involved in this, but she knew it had to happen sooner or later. Gideon, Hotch, and Perez stepped out of their respective vehicles, introducing themselves to the group of men standing before them. The two doctors stepped out next, Monica saying hello to everyone she knew, which was almost every man there, and Reid merely stood beside Morgan.

Monica's brother, Dante, smiled, embracing her lovingly, "How's my baby sister, huh? I've missed you!"

The young woman smiled, hugging her brother in return, "I've missed you too, Dante."

"Monica," her father's rough voice rang in her eardrums.

She turned, hugging him and kissing his cheek, "Dad. It's good to see you."

He merely nodded, walking past his daughter to talk with her superiors, "I trust you should find this facility to your liking, now if you'll excuse me I have some important business to attend to."

Dante approached his sister, sighing sadly, "He's been like this for the past few weeks, don't take it personally, sis."

Monica nodded, walking into the building silently; she knew the place well, every room, every hall, every crevice. It had been her family's vacation home, her father had shut it down when her mother died. She was surprised that he would choose such a location for them to work in, but she didn't have time to dwell on personal matters, they had a killer to find. After setting up her work area she sat down and began tagging all the places the killer had struck, noting the pattern of airports. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen Yanakiv do, it was disturbing but in a way it was also brilliant. She sighed, opening another file, "What are you up to Richard?"

* * *

><p>Baxter was typing away at one of the many computers they had set up, chatting with Garcia via webcam. They had found several helpful pieces of evidence, all of which pointing to Yanakiv, but they were still no closer to finding him. Reid had watched Monica pace back and forth for almost three and a half hours now, her brother hadn't given them much to go on, her father even less, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't turn up.<p>

"Do we have surveillance on all the surrounding airports?" she asked for the tenth time.

Baxter sighed, "Yes! For the love of God, Monica, relax! We'll find him."

Perez placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder, "You're running on fumes, go get some rest."

"I'm fine," she shrugged him off, storming out of the room and into her brother's office, shutting the door behind her so no one could interfere in their conversation.

Reid sighed, shuffling through the same papers he'd been shuffling through, knowing all the information that each piece contained wasn't getting him anywhere, until there was a loud alarm.

"We've got him! West Palm Beach International!" Baxter called, her fingers working furiously on the keyboard in front of her, trying to get a good angle on his face, "Facial recognition software caught him entering the building."

The young man strode over to the monitor, standing behind Gideon, "Should we get over there?"

Hotch nodded, "Inform Monica and we'll go."

He bobbed his head quickly, heading in the direction that Monica had gone earlier, but before he knocked on the door he heard Monica and her brother arguing.

"_What if I can't do this Dante? You know my personal relationship with the guy!_"

"_Monica listen to yourself! The guy's a criminal and you're going to put all that aside because you used to jump his bones?_"

Reid was shocked: she'd had an intimate relationship with Yanakiv! At that moment Reid felt something in the pit of his stomach, it twisted and burned, making him angry. It was jealousy, and Reid knew that it was inappropriate, but he couldn't help what he felt. However, _why_ did he feel it? Monica didn't have feelings like that for him, why all of a sudden was he head over heels for the woman? He shook his head, knocking on the door, "Monica! We found Yanakiv, he's at West Palm Beach International."

He heard the fast pace of heels on carpet before the door flew open, "Are we going after him?" she demanded.

The young man nodded, his face red, "We're uh, we're leaving now."

Monica nodded, "Let's go then," she pulled her gun out of its holster, checking to make sure it was loaded before she walked past him, following the group of her colleagues out of the house.

Reid felt a hand on his shoulder, noticing it as Dante's, "You're not going?"

The doctor nodded, "I am."

Dante sighed, "Keep an eye on her will ya? She's reckless when she's angry."

"I will," Reid promised, following Morgan and Hotch out of the house and climbing into one of the trucks. Sirens wailed as they sped down the highway, cars swerving out of their path. Horns blared, filling his ears as he fiddled with his gun, all the while the thought of Monica and Yanakiv flooded his brain. He didn't know they even allowed relationships with fellow agents, let alone covert operations.

"...Reid? Reid?" Morgan shouted.

His eyes found his teammate, "What's up?"

Morgan arched his eyebrow, "You OK? Gotta keep your head on, buddy."

Reid didn't answer, merely nodding once before looking out the window, watching all of the cars around the airport speed out of their way. Everyone jumped out of the vehicles, making sure they were all on the same page.

Monica spoke into her earpiece, "Where is he Bax?"

"_Last seen by luggage belt C of Continental Airlines, he's...he's heading down the security stairwell to the basement_."

The blonde nodded, "He knows we're here," she didn't inform anyone where she was going, she just took off, running inside and following Baxter's directions.

"Monica? Monica! Monica get back here!" Perez screamed, watching the young woman run off, "McLaine go after her! Follow her!"

Reid watched the tall man run in search of Monica, and something inside Reid willed him to follow, "I'm going with him!"

"Reid! Reid, stay here!" Hotch called, but Reid wasn't listening, he was intent on finding Monica and helping her. He plowed through the people gathering their bags, almost knocking over one guy, hearing his screams behind him.

"Sorry!" he called over his shoulder, but it didn't last long as he opened the security stairwell door, right on McLaine's tail. _C'mon Monica, don't do anything stupid_, he thought as he began his descent.

* * *

><p>The stairs were dark, the lighting not helping her faint eyesight much as she made her way deeper and deeper into the bowels of the airport. The fading voices of airport patrons were nothing but whispers now, the dark basement swallowing her whole. As Monica turned on her flashlight, she could hear light footsteps in front of her, "Richard?" she called, the light from her flashlight illuminating a few feet in front of her, "Richard I know you're down here," she spoke louder. Suddenly a light turned on in front of her, the doorway to a connecting room illuminated the surrounding areas. She could see the many pipes running along the ceiling and walls around her, she could hear the whir of the luggage belts above her head, but all she was focused on was that light. Cautiously she moved forward, her gun pointed straight in front of her, ready to fire if necessary.<p>

"Richard," she called again, pushing the door open a bit more with the muzzle of her gun, bringing the interior into her line of sight, and before her, she could see the back of his head, "Richard."

The tall, stocky man turned, his icy, blue eyes, dusty blonde hair, and lined face was like a long-lost memory, when he smiled, Monica thought she was going to cry, "Hello, Monica."

The young woman sighed, keeping her gun pointed at him, "Why, Richard? Why did you do this?"

His gaze was hard, "To make them suffer. To make them pay for what they did."

"You killed innocent people, Richard! Those men and women didn't need to die! They did nothing wrong!"

"They all did something wrong! They support the FBI, with their trust, their loyalty! Things that the Bureau doesn't deserve!" he growled, his eyes showing her his psychotic pain.

She scoffed, "Don't make me do this, Richard. Just, let me take you in, don't make me hurt you."

At this statement he chuckled, something that surprised her, "Hurt me? Monica, what could you do? You cannot hurt me," he stepped forward, taking her gun in his hand, "put it down."

Monica shook her head, feeling tears threaten to roll down her cheeks, "No."

"Put the gun down, _dorogoĭ_, put it down," he whispered, feeling her grip on the firearm begin to weaken. She sighed, letting go of the weapon, his hand taking hers and pulling her slender frame against his chest. He slipped the weapon into the waistline of his pants, hugging her close, "That's it my dear. You know, the one thing I will never forget about working for the FBI, was how much I enjoyed my time with you," suddenly he fisted his hand in her hair, yanking her head back harshly.

Monica yelled in pain, her body arching back as he pulled, "Let go!"

He clenched his teeth, pulling harder, "And you know what happened, when they fired me? They told me who recommended my psychological evaluation. It was you," he threw her against the wall, shutting the door and locking it, knowing there would be others looking for her.

She gasped in pain, blood trickling down the side of her head, "Richard, please...I did it to help you."

"HELP ME?" he strode over, kicking her in the stomach, "YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" He took her by her hair again, lifting her face up for him to see, "And now I'm going to ruin yours," his other hand balled into a fist, coming down hard on her face.

She felt his knuckles crack against her cheek, knocking her to the cement floor again, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth as punch after punch was landed. The urge to fight back was growing, but she had to wait, she had to wait until she knew she had the upper hand.

* * *

><p>Reid had been following McLaine for almost ten flights of stairs, each floor was searched and Monica was nowhere to be found. His earpiece was flooded with the screaming voices of his superiors, ordering him to come back and wait for proper reinforcements, but he wasn't going to listen. He promised Dante that he'd keep an eye on her, and that's exactly what he was doing.<p>

"Two more flights and we're at the lowest level of the airport," McLaine stated, pushing open yet another door that led to another darkened floor. The doctor sighed, the would never find her at this rate.

"Why don't we try contacting her? Cell phone? Anything," he suggested, waiting for the older man to reply.

"It would draw too much attention to her from the UnSub if he's anywhere near her."

Reid nodded, "Right," he drew his gun, checking each room on the floor to make sure she wasn't there, "this area's clear."

McLaine sighed, "So is this one, let's keep going," he ran back to the stairs, Reid close behind as the traveled down more, finally reaching the last floor, finding it slightly illuminated by a light coming from under one of the doors. McLaine held up his hand, signalling Reid to stop his movements, and it was then that Reid felt the pulse of adrenaline and fear rushing through him: what if she was hurt? What if she wasn't there? What if she was...dead? Reid's breathing hitched at the last thought, hoping that it wasn't so.

"I'm gonna move in, you back me up, OK kid?" McLaine stated.

The young man swallowed, "O-OK."

_BANG_.

The two of them stopped short, hearing the gunshot ring loud and clear.

"Move in!" McLaine yelled, kicking down the door, only to find Yanakiv lying dead on the ground, a bullet hole in his chest, and Monica, standing above him, beaten and bloody.

"Monica?" Reid gasped, his eyes reviewing her intensely.

She looked up at him, no words coming out of her mouth at all except, "He's dead."

* * *

><p>He had been beating her for what felt like days, but it had only been thirty minutes, and Monica was on the brink of unconsciousness. He was shouting things in Russian, things she didn't understand, things she didn't want to know. She'd made him like this, she'd turned him into the monster he was now, and it was something she could never forgive herself for. She knew she'd sprained her knee, she must've had a few cracked ribs, and she was definitely losing a lot of blood.<p>

Yanakiv grunted, "No one's coming to save you, huh? No one's coming to get their little Mary Sue!"

Monica felt anger swell up within her; Mary Sue was a nickname that agents in covert ops would call someone that was weak or useless. She could hear his next punch coming at her, the soft grunt he made when he swung his arm down was what she'd been listening to for quite some time, and it was then that she raised her hand and caught his wrist, catching him off guard. Quickly she swung her leg at his own, knocking him off his feet and landing square on his back, giving her the chance to get up.

"Get up, Richard," she sneered, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor beside her, her fists raised in front of her face in a sparring stance.

He chuckled, catching his breath, "Yo-You're one slick little bitch," he sat up, attempting to kick in one of her knees, but she jumped, spinning fast in the air and landing a jump-spin side kick directly at his torso, knocking him back against the floor.

Monica stared at him furiously, "Mary Sue my ass," her eyes flashed in the direction that he had started to crawl; her gun was lying on the floor in the corner, it must've fallen out of his jeans while he'd been hitting her. She grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him further from the gun and closer to her, allowing her to dig her fingernails into his scalp, yanking at his short hair, "my turn to do some sparring practice," she decked him the face repeatedly several times before she felt his blood mix with her own on her knuckles, dropping him to the ground before walking over and picking up her gun. She could hear him struggling to stand, and she waited, waited for him to be on his feet before she killed him.

Yanakiv laughed darkly, "I always underestimated you, _dorogoĭ_, I always forgot how cruel you can be," he hissed in pain as he stood, discretely pulling a knife from his back pocket, "but not anymore," he strode forward, about to stab her in the back when she turned, firing at single gunshot at his chest, watching him crumple to the floor in front of her. It was then that it finally came crashing down on her: she'd killed Richard Yanakiv. The one man she'd had feelings for in her entire life, but for some reason that didn't matter anymore like it had for all those years. She heard two sets of footsteps outside the door, and McLaine's voice screaming before the door was kicked in. Then she heard a different voice call her name, a soft, timid voice that made all the pain and anger she was feeling melt away.

"Monica?" Spencer gasped, and she let out an inner sigh of happiness: he'd come looking for her.

Her Caribbean orbs found the young, flabbergasted doctor, and she only said two words, "He's dead."

The young man strode forward, instinctively wrapping his arms around her, "Thank God you're alright!"

Monica hissed, her entire body screaming in pain, "Spencer, let go."

He blushed as he released his hold on her, his sweater blotched with her blood, "Sorry."

She smiled, pushing a piece of his hair out of his face, "It's OK."

McLaine walked over, "C'mon, let's get you to a paramedic," he slung one of her arms over his shoulders, helping her out of the basement and into the stairwell, "can you climb the stairs?"

"I-I don't think so...my knee," she tried to bend her left knee, but it seared with agony, "no!"

"OK, OK, OK, it's alright don't force yourself," he scooped her up in his arms, "Reid, call the team and tell them we've got her and we need a paramedic, and inform them that Yanakiv is dead."

Reid nodded, watching as her eyes locked on him the entire time they ascended the staircase, the words coming out of his mouth completely blurred by his overwhelming joy that she was alive.

The light hurt her eyes as they finally reached the main floor of the airport, an ambulance waiting outside for her. McLaine put her down on the stretcher, allowing the paramedics to take care of her from there.

Perez rushed over, "Are you crazy pulling a stunt like that? He could've killed you!"

She smirked, "But he didn't, did he?"

He huffed, his anger slowly fading, "I'll ride with you."

"No, I want Spencer to come with me," she stated, her gaze searching for the young doctor.

"Why am I not surprised?" the man teased, walking over to the group of agents that were conversing.

* * *

><p>Reid watched McLaine put her on the stretcher, his brown eyes filled with relief. He couldn't hear what Perez was saying to her, but when the older man's eyes found him, he was surprised.<p>

"Reid," Gideon called him quietly, "are you alright?"

The young man nodded, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's uh, it's her blood on my sweater, not-not mine."

He nodded in return, "I know. You were worried about her."

"I was," Reid admitted bashfully, his face turning red as he looked down to the ground.

"You care about her, don't you?" Gideon prodded further, and the young doctor could do nothing except nod foolishly, his hair hanging in his face, "good," the older man smiled, "Perez is coming over to talk to you."

Reid looked up to see the other elderly man approach him, a smirk on his face, "She wants you to go with her."

His eyes found the young woman being put into the ambulance, and he could see the soft smile on her lips, and he understood, "OK," slowly he walked over to the truck, "I'm uh, I'm going with her."

One of the medics nodded, "Alright, come on in."

Reid climbed into the ambulance, sitting on the left side of the stretcher, "Hey," he smiled.

Monica smiled weakly, which he noticed they'd given her a sedative to numb the pain, "Hi."

"I heard you wanted me to ride with you, so uh, hear I am," he grinned shyly.

The young woman nodded, "I'm glad you're here, Spencer. Thank you for coming to look for me," she turned her left hand so that it was palm-up, signaling that she wanted him to take it.

Reid was hesitant, but slowly his took her hand in his, feeling her soft skin against his palm soothed him, "I was worried about you. I was scared that you were going to get hurt, or worse."

Monica chuckled, sucking her breath in harshly at the sharp pain, "Don't worry about me too much though. I've been through worse," her eyelids grew heavy, the sedative creeping into her system.

He smirked, "I know but, that doesn't stop me from wanting to make sure you're alright."

"And why is that, Dr. Reid?" she joked, her smile soft and kind.

Reid felt his heart skip a beat, "Because I care about you."

She closed her eyes, holding his hand a little bit tighter, "I care about you too, Spence."

He laughed softly at his nickname, "I'm glad."

"Mmm," she hummed, slowly beginning to fall asleep, "don't leave."

Reid watched as she drifted off, sleep taking over, "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He jumped as the ambulance hit a speed bump, but he never took his eyes of the sleeping form in front of him, his gaze taking in each little cut and bruise on her visible skin, and vowed inwardly that he'd never let it happen again.

**AN: OK so again I know this took _forever_, and I'm sorry, but I'm pretty damn happy with how this chapter turned out! Please review and tell me what you think!**


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